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The Cure Set to Rock Luna!
March 4TH, 2037: Press Release: In a mind-blowing press release the curators of Artemis have announced that to blow open the doors on the Lunar colony, they will be featuring a performance by the one, the only, THE CURE. Getting together for the first performance in fifteen years, this legendary band will rock the doors open for the colonists coming to their new lives. Be there, in person, live on the Lunar Surface, or watch from a specially erected stage in the VR! -- (Joel, can you finish this? I copy and pasted most of this from the The Cure, but we've got to make it look like we did actual work. We need about 1500 or so words for the pamphlet.) -- (Done and Done. - Joel) A Short History of The Cure The Cure was an English rock band formed in Crawley, West Sussex in 1976. The band experienced several line-up changes through the years, with frontman, vocalist, guitarist and principal songwriter Robert Smith being the only constant member. The Cure first began releasing music in the late 1970s with its debut album Three Imaginary Boys; this, along with several early singles, placed the band as part of the post-punk and new wave movements that had sprung up in the wake of the punk rock revolution in the United Kingdom. During the early 1980s, the band's increasingly dark and tormented music helped form the gothic rock genre. After the release of 1982's Pornography, the band's future was uncertain and Smith was keen to move past the gloomy reputation his band had acquired. With the single 'Let's Go to Bed' released the same year, Smith began to place a pop sensibility into the band's music, as well as a unique stage look. The Cure's popularity increased as the decade progressed, especially in the United States where the songs 'Just Like Heaven', 'Love Song' and 'Friday I'm in Love' entered the Billboard Hot 100 chart, with the latter two peaking at #1. By the start of the 1990s, The Cure was one of the most popular alternative rock bands in the world. The band is estimated to have sold 40 million albums. The Cure released fourteen studio albums, ten EPs and over 40 singles during the course of their career, which lasted from 1976 to 2016. Career highlights: 1973: A young Robert Smith and friends form Obelisk, the precursor to The Cure. 1976: Robert Smith, along with original lead singer Marc Ceccagno, Laurence "Lol" Tolhurst, Michael Dempsey, and a couple of other classmates form Malice. 1977: Ceccagno leaves, and Smith takes over singing duties near the end of the year after a series of unsuccessful auditions for a new singer. The remaining members rename the band "The Easy Cure", after the title of a song written by Lol Tolhurst. Guitarist Porl Thompson first joins the band. The earliest known Cure song, 'Heroin Face', is played during a concert at The Rocket in their home town of Crawley, and is later immortalized as part of a live compilation on the b-side of the cassette version of their first live album, Concert: The Cure Live. 1978: Porl Thompson leaves over creative differences with Robert. The Cure release their first single, the oft-misunderstood 'Killing An Arab', which was based upon the novel L'Étranger, by existentialist writer Albert Camus. Near the end of the year the band tours in support of Billy Idol and Generation X, but are kicked off of the tour due to Lol discovering Billy in the middle of an indiscretion, and then urinating on his leg before leaving. 1979: The band's first album, Three Imaginary Boys, is released, along with singles 'Boys Don't Cry' and 'Jumping Someone Else's Train', and they play their first dates on mainland Europe. They also tour as the support act to Siouxsie and the Banshees, with Robert doing double duty by playing also guitar for the Banshees during their set. 1980: Seventeen Seconds and its' only single, 'A Forest', are released. The Cure play their first shows in the United States and Oceania (New Zealand and Australia). While on tour in Holland, the band is arrested for skinny-dipping on a beach in Rotterdam. 1981: Faith is released, as well as its' only single 'Primary', and non-album single 'Charlotte Sometimes', based upon the book of the same name by Penelope Farmer. The Cure played the Werchter Festival this year, resulting in one of the most well-known renditions of 'A Forest', with the band playing an extra-long version after being told that they had time for one more song before having to make way for headliner Robert Palmer. At the end of the song bassist Simon Gallup shouts, "F*** Robert Palmer, f*** rock 'n' roll!" The band's gear is subsequently dumped off the back of the stage by Palmer's roadies. 1982: Pornography, arguably the darkest album in the band's catalog, is released. While touring, Robert and Simon come to blows, resulting in the cancellation of the next two shows. Robert and Simon agree to finish out the tour, after which Simon leaves. He doesn't rejoin the band until more than two years later. In Simon's absence, Robert and Lol take the band in the opposite direction, opting for pop over gloom with the release of their single 'Let's Go to Bed'. At the request of bassist Steven Severin, Robert rejoins the Banshees near the end of the year. The band also begins a long association with Tim Pope, who goes on to direct many unique music videos for them. 1983: The Cure continue to go deeper into pop territory with their singles 'The Walk' and 'The Love Cats', which result in their biggest hits by this point. Robert extends himself further by continuing to play guitar for Siouxsie and the Banshees, on their live release Nocturne, and appearing in the video for their cover of The Beatles hit 'Dear Prudence'. Smith also collaborates on a neo-psychedelic post-punk side project, The Glove, with Severin, which produces their only album, Blue Sunshine. 1984: Porl Thompson returns. The Top is released, along with its' only single 'The Caterpillar', the live Concert album, and Siouxsie and the Banshees' Hyæna. Smith leaves the Banshees shortly before they tour for the album due to suffering from exhaustion. Siouxsie never forgives him for this. Boris Willams begins his tenure with the band. 1985: Simon Gallup returns. The Head on the Door and its' singles are released. 1986: The first of The Cure's singles albums, Standing on a Beach (vinyl and cassette)/Staring at the Sea (cd and video) and the concert video Live in Japan are released. Robert nearly kills himself and the rest of the band while drunkenly rolling his Lada down a mountainside during the recording sessions for the band's next album. 1987: Double album Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me and its' singles are released, as well as the concert video The Cure in Orange, which is widely considered to be the best of their live releases. It's the band's most eclectic album up to this point, with both heavy and poppy cuts, including their hit 'Just Like Heaven'. Psychedelic Furs' keyboardist Roger O'Donnell begins to fill in for Tolhurst, whose alcoholism is seriously beginning to impact his ability to play. 1988: An off-year for the band, but Robert and his long-time girlfriend Mary Poole marry, and the official biography, Ten Imaginary Years, is released. 1989: Lol Tolhurst officially quits the band and O'Donnell officially joins. Disintegration and its' singles are released, with the album going triple platinum in the US and 'Love Song' notably peaking at #1 and staying in that position for two weeks, beating out Janet Jackson's 'Miss You Much'. The album is considered to be the band's magnum opus. Robert considers following through on his threat to disband The Cure if one of their songs reaches #1, but he ultimately decides to continue. 1990: Roger leaves, Cure roadie Perry Bamonte joins, and the band releases the remix album Mixed Up. 1991-1992: The band records and promotes their next album, which they title Wish. Enough songs are finished to make a double album. Record company executives pressure Robert to trim some of them to bring the length down to that of a single album, but Robert refuses. Defying expectations, the double album reaches #1 in the US and stays there for a month. Wish is later certified quadruple platinum, becoming the best-selling album in the band's career, and 'Friday I'm In Love' the second out of the album's four singles, nets the band their second #1 hit in the US, with the fourth single, 'Doing the Unstuck', reaching the Top Ten. 1993-1995: The Cure record original and cover songs for compilations and movie soundtracks, most notably 'Burn', from The Crow. Drummer Boris Williams leaves and is later replaced by oft-criticized Jason Cooper. Porl Thompson leaves to play with Jimmy Page and Robert Plant. Tolhurst sues the band for increased royalties but ultimately fails, though Robert later offers to slightly increase them anyway as a gesture of good will. Tolhurst turns down his offer. Roger O'Donnell returns. 1996: Wild Mood Swings, the most diverse album in The Cure's catalog, is released. While not performing nearly as well as their last two studio albums, it still manages to go platinum, and produces the Top 20 single 'Mint Car', the second out of four from the album. 1997-1999: The band performs a series of festival dates and records a song for a soundtrack and a cover for a compilation and releases their second singles compilation, but it's an otherwise quiet period for the band, though Robert once again begins involving himself in collaborations, including an appearance on the popular cartoon South Park. 2000: Bloodflowers, the third and final part in the trilogy of albums that Robert feels best define the band, is released to critical acclaim, and reaches double platinum status. Only two singles are released from the album: 'Out of This World' in Europe and Japan, and 'Maybe Someday' in the United States. The former just barely reaches the UK Top 20, while the latter enters the Hot 100, but fails to crack the Top 40. 'Burn' is performed live for the first time during the Dream Tour, but is played in just a few select cities on each side of the Atlantic. 2001: The Cure's Bloodflowers nets the band their first Grammy nominations with nods in the categories of Album of the Year and Best Alternative Music Album, winning the latter over Radiohead's Kid A. One 2cd live compilation each from the European and North American Dream Tour shows are released, both selling reasonably well and eventually being certified gold. 2002-2004: The band performs 'Trilogy' shows in Berlin for later home video release. A b-sides and rarities disc is released, along with their self-titled 12th studio album. Questions arose during the recording process due to the involvement of nu metal producer Ross Robinson, but his influences are thankfully tempered by Robert, resulting in another platinum-selling release, which is praised for its' high production quality, though none of the singles will reach the Top 40 in the US. 2005: Bamonte and O'Donnell are both sacked, finding out via a well-known fan-operated Cure news website. The band operates as a trio for a short time until Porl Thompson rejoins. 2006: The band releases the live dvd 'The Cure: Festival 2005' and begins work on their 13th studio release. 2007: The Cure gears up for a tour to support their latest album, but much to the frustration of fans, Robert decides to postpone most of the dates in favor of rerecording much of it. 2008: The double album 4:13 Dream is released. All three singles from the "Dream" disc lead the physical sales chart in the United States, but they fail to gain much traction on the radio, with none of them charting. However, the second single from the "Nightmare" disc, 'A Boy I Never Knew', which was originally an outtake from the self-titled album, garners the band a Top 10 hit in both the US and the UK. The album itself is certified gold. The band's updated biography, titled Thirty Imaginary Years, is released near the end of the year. 2009: Robert Smith receives NME's "Godlike Genius" award. 2010-2011: Porl Thompson leaves the band. Lol and Roger return for a series of "Reflections" shows, with the Sydney, Australia performances being recorded. Roger officially rejoins the band. 2012-2013: Reflections is released in the middle of 2012, and is nominated for and wins the 2013 Grammy Award for "Best Long Form Music Video". Reeves Gabrels officially joins the band. 2014: The Cure finally release their 14th studio album during the latter half of the year, titled Vertigo. It's a dark, brooding work that receives critical praise but is a commercial failure, the first Cure album to not receive a certification in 30 years. The second out of two singles, 'Flowing', is hailed as one of the best songs that Robert Smith has ever written, but as with most of the singles from the previous album, it fails to 2015: The band covers South and North America before heading over to Europe and finishing at Wembley Arena in London. Speculation is rampant among fans that the wide-ranging tour may finally mark the end of the band. 2016: In an official statement via video, Robert Smith confirms the worst fears of Cure fans by announcing that The Cure are disbanding, but says that he's enjoyed performing and is glad that he's been able to provide a source of enjoyment and a catharsis for so many people for nearly 40 years. As a fitting end, The Cure are finally elected into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. ( - What the hell Joel? I said like 1500 words. This is nuts.) Notes *Direct From Luna articles are about the event this article promotes, which takes place on January 31, 2031. Category:The Cure